Posted on January 7, 2021 at 2:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Surely no one is surprised to hear that OverDrive is reporting a huge increase in digital borrowing for 2020.

Driven by lockdowns and remote learning, readers borrowed 430 million ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines last year — a 33 percent increase over 2019, says OverDrive. 

Individually, there were 289 million ebooks borrowed (an increase of 40 percent) and 138 million audiobooks (a much slower increase, just 20 percent, presumably because of a drop-off in commuting).

And 102 public library systems around the world each recorded more than 1 million digital book checkouts (an increase of 72 percent).

OverDrive has a more comprehensive breakdown of its checkout statistics online, and it has top-ten checkout lists of several varieties available as well.

Here’s a sampling of the lists: 

Most popular ebooks

1. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens.

2. Becoming, by Michelle Obama.

3. Educated, by Tara Westover.

4. Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng.

5. The Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes.

Most popular audiobooks

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling.

2. Becoming, by Michelle Obama.

3. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens.

4. Talking to Strangers, by Malcolm Gladwell.

5. Educated, by Tara Westover.

Top digital books by genre

Adult fictionWhere the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens.

Adult nonfictionBecoming, by Michelle Obama.

Young adult fictionThe Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas.

Children’s fictionHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling.

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Categories: Today in Books

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